You aren’t going to find a lot of people outside of New York and Indianapolis that are eager to watch the 2-5 Jets take on the 3-5 Colts. That was clearly the case on Thursday night. The NFL saw Thursday Night Football hit a new ratings low.
The Colts won the game 45-30. Indianapolis fans are the only ones that had good news to celebrate coming out of the game. The game drew the smallest Thursday night audience of the season according to Deadline, averaging 11.65 million viewers and a 6.7 rating.
A season ratings low is a problem. The fact that the game fell short of the same week last year is a real eye-opener. Viewership fell 12% short of the Packers and 49ers game in 2020. It is especially concerning because that game faced competition from coverage of the contentious 2020 Presidential Election.
Week 9’s game is the lowest rated effort from Thursday Night Football since December of 2018 outside of games facing competition from election coverage. The lowest rated game since that time came in Week 7 of last season when the Eagles and Giants played a game opposite a presidential debate.
